, 1887-12-15
UNWILLING TO SERVE
The Average Citizen breads the
Official With a Venire.
Difficulty in Securing a Jury in the
Agazzie Case.
The Prisoner On Trial for His Life
Acts Very COOIly.

Why is it that the average citizen would
rather gaze into the lannon's mouth thar
to serve on a jury when the crime
charged against the defendant is murder ?
There are more answers to the question
than words in the sentence, and the major
portion of these many reasons would not
be fitting replies to the s~tereotyped quer-
les propounded by the civil service COM
missioners who examine the candidates.
While many men believe in capital pun
ishment and take especial delight in per-
using the narrowing details of an execu-
ton, they have a canny feeling, a dread,
of assuming real or imagined responsible
ity which precludes the possibility of
their openly declaring in favor OF punish
ment by death when such a verdict is
warranted by the evidence. Many can i'll
afford to leave business or professional
pursuits for the miserable stipend which
is supposed to fully remunerate a juror for
the performance of his onerous duties.
Others have been endeavoring to avoid
squabbles, brawls and quarrels all
their lives and consequently
dislike the disputes incident to
trials. Then again there are
manly men who despise the
browbeating methods too often res orted to
by attorneys in the examination Of wit
nesses. But the reasons to which the re-
pugnance for becoming one Of a dozen
unprejudiced judges and nominal prison
ers multiply as one attempts to cnumerate
them.
The preceding dissertation is inspired
by a cognizance of the difficulties encoun-
tered in the empannelling of a jury for a
murder trial in Laramie county by the
consuming OF yesterday in this tircsome
pastime at the district court.
The case under consideration is that
wherein Theodore Agazzie, well known as
"Frenchy," is charged with the crime of
murder in the first degree, he having
killed Geo. B. Gilduff at Silver Crown
last September. The prosecution alleges
that the crime was p~remeditated. mali
cious, etc, while the defense will proba-
bly, endeavor to prove that the killing was
to save the life of the prisoner or was ac-
cidental. W. r. Stoll represents the PEG.
pie, while Messrs. Sewers and Miller will
labor in behalf of Mr.. Agazzie,
With scarcely a solitary exception the
talesmen had read newspaper accounts of
the affair at the time of its occurrence.
Many had formed decided opinions, 9TH
ers held prejudice or bias, and a few were
opposed to capital punishment. In one
or two cases residents who were not
American citizens had been summoned.
When the hour for adjournment ar
rived last evening, eleven weary looking
mortals occupied chairs in the jury box.
The prosecution can still avail itself of
two peremptory challenges, and the de-
Tense of six, so that there is practically no
way OF even approximating when the jury
will be secured.
In the process the regular panel of the
petit jury was speedily exhausted, and
special %venires issued for sixty five tales
men. The last of thirty had not been
called prior to adjournment yesterday.
Agazzie, the accused, is one of those
stolid individuals who show no signs of
feeling until thoroughly aroused, He is
of splendid physique, and would be rather
handsome with his raven black hair but
for a bad defect in one eye and an ex-
tremcly low forehead. He threw a keen
glance in the direction of every man who
even for a moment sat in the jury box,
and then rolansed into the seemingly in
different mood which has characterized
him since his Incarceration.